Telephone advertising method and apparatus



May 15, 1934. 1. I. LESAVOY ET AL 7 1,958,396

TELEPHONE ADVERTISING METHOD AND APTARATUS Filed March 51. 1932 3Sheets-Sheet 1 .z: :5 g 5 \1 i T T tailed .sul sz'rzkr 1; dc relay p gph, M

ATTORNEYS May 15, 1934.

I. L. LESAVOY El AL TELEPHONE ADVERTISING METHOD AND APPARATUS FiledMarch 31. 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 15, 1934. LESAVOY ET AL TELEPHONEADVERTISING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed March 31. 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 P11" E k i ATTORNEYLS Patented May '15, 1934 UN r1111.

STAT-ES PATENT? or es TELEPHONE ADVERTISING ME'rnon AND 'APPAnA'rUsApplication March 31, 1932, Serial No. 602,134

'1 Claims (01. 119-6) This invention relates to telephone systems andrelates more particularly to methods and apparatus for transmittingsound to a calling subscriber during the interval before the calledsubscriber responds.

In telephone systems, after the calling subscriber has made known thecalled subscriber to .whom he wish; to be connected, the circuit of thecalled subscriber is supplied with ringing W current which rings hisbell to notify him that he is being called. When the called subscriberresponds by lifting the receiver ad the hook, the ringing current isdiscontinued and a talking circuit between the calling and calledsubscriberis completed. In some telephone systems a portion of theringing current is inductively fed back into the calling subscribersline to notify him through an audible ringing tone that ringing signalsare being transmitted to the called subscriber. In the Americantelephone practice,

the ringing machine in a telephonecentral' oflice supplies ringingcurrent for two seconds, then there is a silent period of four seconds,and then a ringing period of two seconds, and so on. There is usually anappreciable amount of time between the period when the ringing of thecalled subscriber starts, before he removes his receiver to respond tothe call. The calling subscriber usually, while waiting for the calledsubscriber to respond, hears, therefore, if the exchanges in hislocation supply ringing tone, several two second ringing periods andseveral four second silent periods.

An object of this invention is to supply the calling subscriber withsignals, other than ringing signals, during the time he is waiting forthe called subscriber to respond.

Another object of the invention is to supply vocal messages to, acalling subscriber while he is waiting for the called subscriber torespond..

Another object of the invention is to supply recorded sound to a callingsubscriber while he is waiting for a called subscriber to respond.

According to this invention, suitable apparatus is provided in a.telephone exchange to supply I trol of the called subscriber on thecalling subbells 10 of the called subscriber.

scribers line. Suitable mechanism isprovided for opening the amplifiercircuit to the calling subscriber when the called subscriber lifts hisre celver. Suitable mechanism is also provided for discontinuing themessage during the ringing periods and for supplying the message duringthe silent periods between the ringing periods. V

In another embodiment of the invention, it is planned that the ringingtone to the calling subscriber be discontinued and that the supply ofthe message to him, according to this invention, be sufficient noticethat the called subscribers line is being supplied with ringing signals.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, ofwhich:

Fig. 1 is a simplified circuit showing a calling subscriber's and acalled subscribers line, the ringing machine, the tripping relay, theapparatus for supplying the recorded message, and its control apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a simplified circuit similar to Fig. 1, except that in thesystem shown by. Fig. 2 no ringing tone is supplied to the callingsubscriber, and

Fig. 3 is a simplified circuit showing the application of the inventionto a panel type machine switching system.

Referring now to Fig. 1, when the calling subscriber has been connectedthrough-to the line of the called'subscriber and ringing current issupplied to the called subscriber, a circuit is completed through thecalled subscribers bells 10, the condenser 11, the armature 12 of thetripping relay 13, the contact 14, the D. C. winding 15 of the relay 13,the winding of the D. C. relay 16, the winding of the A. C. relay 1'7,the commutator and brushes of the interrupter 18, battery 21 toground,through ground to interrupter 22, and switch 23. The battery 21 supplies48 volts to the circuit to energizethe D. C. relays and other associatedapparatus (not shown). The ringing machine 24 supplies volts alternatingcurrent to the interrupter 20, which is provided with the conductingsegment 19 and the insulating segment 25. The con- 1 ducting segment 19is connected to the commu-'- tator of the interrupter '18. During aportion of the time that the segment 19 of the interrupter 20 is underthe brush 26, 105 volts alternating current is superimposed on the 48volts direct 105 current and through the circuit above described. The105 volt alternating current operates the During a portion of the timethat the insulated segment 25 is under the brush 26 of the interrupter20, no

5 followed by a four second silent period.

In order that the. calling subscriber may know that his number is beingcalled, a portion of the ringing energy is supplied in the circuitincluding the condenser 27, the winding 28 of the 19 repeat 001129 toground, the remainder. of the circuit being through the condenser 11,the bells 10, and the other elements of the circuit as described above.The ringing energy is inductively transferred through the windings ofthe repeat coil 29 to the receiver of the'calling subscriber. During theringing period and before the called subscriber responds, the trippingrelay .13 is de-encrgized-this due to the fact that the impedance of thecalled subscriber's bells 2 l0 and the condenser 11 is too great for therelay to be energized.

When the called subscriber responds by lifting his receiver ofi thehook, apparatus'in. his telephone is operated by the lifting of thereceiver to place the condenser 11 and bells 10 out of the circuit andto substitute the microphone and receiver for talking purposes therein.The talking circuit of the called subscriber has a relatively lowimpedance so that the tripping relay 13 becomes energized and opens theringing circuit through the armature 12 being drawn down to release thecontact 14. At the same time the armature 23 of the tripping relay ispulled up to connect the talking circuit of the called subscriber to therepeat coil 29 to complete the talking circuit.

The system described above is a standard telephone system except for theaddition of the D. C. relay 16 and the A. C. relay 17. They areprovided, according to this invention, to control the amplifier of thereproducing equipment. According to this invention, a film 30 on whichthere has been recorded a spoken message or entertainment, or any othermatter which it is desired to transmit to the calling subscriber, iscaused to circulate continuously over the end'- spools 31 and 32. Thelight source '33, energized by the battery 34, projects a light beamthrough that portion of the film on which the message is recorded,against the light sensitive cathode of the photo-electric ce11.35. Theoutput of the photo-electric cell 35 is fed into the amplifier 36 which.may also contain means for applying .polarizing and biasing potentialsto the photoelectric cell. The circuit of the output sideof theamplifier is as follows: through thebondenser 37, the lead 38, thewindings 28 and 48 of the repeat coil 29, the lead 39, the armature 40of the D. C. relay 16, the contact 41, the lead 42, the contact 43, thearmature 44 of the A. C. relay 17, and the condenser 45. 'The apparatusis arranged so that during the silent periods between the ringingperiods, while the called subscribers' receiver remains down, the soundrecorded on the film 30 interrupts the light beam between the lightsource 33 and the photo-electric .cell 35 to variably energize thephoto-electric cell 35 according to" the shadings of the sound which hasbeen photographically recorded on the film. The light variations set upelectrical variations which are amplified in the amplifier 36. andsuperimposed on the windings of the repeat coil 29. Duringthe two secondringing periods the A. C. relays 1'7, which is a marginal relay,operates to release the contact 43 and open the output circuit of theamplifier so that none of the recorded sound is heard by the callingsubscriber during the two second ringing periods. The D. C. relay 16 hascharacteristics similar to those of the tripping relay i3 and until thereceiver of the called subscriber is lifted. it is not opera ted. due tothe high impedance of the ringing circuit. Once the called subscriber'sreceiver is lifted, however. the relay 16 is energized due to thelowered impedance of the line and its armature 40 is pulled dovm torelease the contact 41 to open the output circuit of the amplifier 36.When the talking circuit between the calling and the called subscriberis completed, as shown in Fig. 1, the amplifier circuit is open and thetripping relay 13 is energized.

The system shown by Fig. 1 is seen to comprise a standard system towhich has been added the reproducing apparatus, according to thisinvenof the recorded sound when the called subscriber to notify thecalling subscriber that his number is being called since the callingsubscriber only hears the recorded sound when his call has beencompleted through to the line of the called subscriber. The system shownby Fig. 2 is exactly similar to thatshown by Fig. 1 except that thecondenser 27 of Fig. 1, which serves to transmit the ringing tone to thewinding 28 of the repeat coil, is omitted, and the A. C. relay 17, itsarma-.

ture 44, and contact 43 are omitted. Otherwise, the apparatus shownin'the two embodiments is exactly similar and their operation issimilar. Accordingly, the samedesignation numbers have been given to theapparatus in both figures. In the embodiment shown by Fig. 2, the soundrecorded on the film 30 is continuously transmitted to the callingsubscriber while ringing current is being supplied to the calledsubscriber. The calling subscriber does not hear ringing tones. Thesound supplied from the amplifier 36 serves to notify the callingsubscriber that his call has been put" through. In fact, the sound whichis transmitted to him from the amplifier 36 may consist of languagetelling him that his number is being called. When the called subscriberlifts his receiver, the D. C.'relay 16 is energized, as described inconnection with Fig. 1, to open the output of the amplifier 36 so thatno recorded sound is transmitted to the calling subscriber when thetalking circuit between the two subscribers is completed.

This invention is applicable to manual telephone systems, to step bystep machine telephone systems, and to panel-type switching systems. Thecircuits described in Figs. l and 2 are applimesses a cable to all threeof the enumerated systems. For purposes of illustration, however, theadditional apparatus, according to this invention, has been shown inFig. 3 to be added to the mechanical ringing circuit of a panel typemachine switching system as employed at the present time by the AmericanTelephone & Telegraph Company. The apparatus shown by Fig. 3 is standardapparatus manufactured by the Western Electric Company for the AmericanTelephone 81 Telegraph Company, and its operationis well known to thoseskilled in the art and will not be explained in detail in thisspecification since the machine switching operations are not part ofthisinvention. It is believed to be suflicient for an understanding ofthe invention, therefore, to state that after the calling subscriber hasdialed his number, connections are closed through the cams of sequenceswitches to complete the ringing circuit, and upon the called subscriberlifting his receiver to disconnect the ringing circuit and to completethe talking circuit. The cams of the sequence switches are indicated bythe circles with the capital letters placed therein. The relays,switches, and other apparatus shown are well known to those skilled inthe art and their operation, for the purpose of simplicity, will not beexplained here. The relays l6 and 17 and their associated armatures andcontacts, the amplifier 36, and the remaining reproducing apparatusshown in Fig. 3 is similar to that described above in connection withFig. 1 and will not be explained again here since the operation of theapparatus shown by Fig. 3 is the same as that shown by Fig. 1, Fig. 1being a simplified circuit with the various circuit closing mechanismsomitted.

V The amplifier 36 may have its output circuit of such high impedancethat its being bridged across the coils 28 and 38 of the repeat coil 29will not affect to any substantial degree the characteristics of thetelephone system, so that its addition will not interfere with existingtelephone systems. Likewise, the relays 16 and 17 may have such lowimpedance and resistance that their arrangement in series relation withother apparatus will not interfere with the eflicient operation of suchother apparatus.

A single amplifier and its associated reproducing apparatus may beassociated with a single telephone exchange, it not being necessary tosupply a separate reproducing system for each subscriber. The amplifier36 may be bridged across the distributing frame of an exchange and therecorded sound may be continuously supplied to the amplifier. Theamplifier may supply sound to one or to a large number of calledsubscribers simultaneously, each subscriber circuit being supplied withseparate relays 16; and 17 where the ringing tone is to be transmittedback to the calling subscriber, and with the single relay 16, where thecalling sound-notifies the calling subscriber that his number is beingcalled. Any suitable automatic volume control may be associated with theoutput circuit of the amplifier to automatically vary the volume of itsoutput proportional to the number of subscribers making up its load.Such volume controls are well known to those skilled in the art.

The sound recorded may be an advertising message, advertising anycommercial product, and may be an advertising message from the telephonecompany; it may be instructions or confirmations from the telephonecompany, or may subscriber, a called subscriber, a circuit connectbemusic orany other message that it may be'desired to transmit.

While the sound to betransmitted back to the, calling subscriber hasbeen described as being recorded on a photographic film, as is used intalking pictures, it should be understood that it may be recorded on awax record or any other suitable means, or it may be transmitted fromits original source. j

Whereas-one or more embodiments of the in' vention have been describedfor the purpose of explanation, it .should be understood that theinvention is not limited to the exact arrangement described, but manymodifications may be'made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is: v 1. A telephone system comprising a. callinsubscriber, a called subscriber, a circuit connecting said subscribers,transmitting means for sending calling signal impulses -to said calledsubscriber, means for transmitting indications of said impulses to saidcalling subscriber, means for transmitting a separate signal to saidcalling subscriber while said called subscriber is being signalled, andmeans controlled by said first .mentioned means for discontinuing saidlast mentioned means during said signal impulses.

2. A telephone system comprising a calling ing said subscribers,transmitting means for .sending calling signal impulses to said calledsubscriber,-means for transmitting indications of said impulses to .saidcalling subscriber, a medium carrying a recorded signal, means forconverting said recorded signal into an electrical signal, means fortransmitting said electrical signal to said calling subscriber whilesaid called subscriber is being signalled, and means controlled by saidfirst mentioned means for discontinuing said last mentioned means duringthe transmission of said signal impulses.

3. A telephone system comprising a calling subscriber, a calledsubscriber, a circuit connecting said subscribers, transmitting meansfor sending calling signals to said called subscriber, means fortransmitting indications of said impulses to said calling subscriber, amedium carrying a recorded signal, means for converting said recordedsignal into an electrical signal, means for transmitting said electricalsignal to said calling subscriber while said called subscriber is beingsignalled, means controlled by said first mentioned means fordiscontinuing said last mentioned means during said calling signals, andmeans operated by the response of said called subscriber fordiscontinuing said signals.

4. A telephone system comprising a calling subscribers station, a calledsubscribers station,

a circuit connecting said stations, a ringing gen- 13.5 erator forsupplying ringing current to said called subscribers station, a mediumcarrying a recorded signal, means for converting said recorded signalinto an electrical signal, and means energized by the supply of ringingcurrent from said generator for transmitting said electrical signal tosaid calling subscribers station while said called subscribers stationis being signalled. -5. A telephone system comprising a callingsubscribers station, a called subscribersstation, a circuit connectingsaid stations, a ringing generator for supplying intermittent ringingcur-'- rents to said called subscribers station, a. medium carrying arecorded signal means for converting said recorded signal into anelectrical signal, means energized by the supplyof ringing current fromsaid generator for transmitting said electrical signal to said callingsubscriber's operation by the calling subscriber to complete a circuitthrough to the called subscriber, a, me-

dium at said central ofilce carrying a recorded signal, and means setinto operation upon the completion of the circuit to said calledsubscriber's station for transmitting the recorded signal to the callingsubscriber.

7. A machine-switching telephone system comprising a, callingsubscribers station, a called subscriber's station, a centralautomatically opv erated oflice, machine-switching devices in saidoffice, set into operation by the calling subscriber, for establishing acircuit to the called subscriber and supplying a ringing signal, amedium carrying a recorded signal in said central oilice, and means setinto operation by said devices for transmitting the recorded signals onsaid medium to said calling subscriber's station, during the supply ofthe ringing signal.

I. LAWRENCE LESAVOY.

SANFORD Z. KOENIGSBERG.

